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Nationwide Post Race Report for Kentucky Speedway

Rain cuts race short, Austin makes points and Matt has great debut

NASCAR Nationwide Series

Feed the Children 300
Kentucky Speedway
June 28, 2013

Race Highlights:
•Richard Childress Racing teammates finished third (Matt Crafton), sixth (Austin Dillon) and 17th (Brian Scott).
•Dillon is fifth in the Nationwide Series driver championship point standings, trailing leader Regan Smith by 20 markers, while Scott is ninth in the standings, 55 points behind Smith.
•The No. 3 Chevrolet team ranks seventh in the Nationwide Series owner championship point standings, with the No. 33 team eighth in the standings and the No. 2 team 13th.
•According to NASCAR's Post Race Loop Data Statistics, Crafton scored a Driver Rating of 114.2 ranking him fourth overall, ranked third in Fastest Laps Run and spent 100 percent of laps In the Top15.
•Dillon was the Fastest on Restarts (165.866 mph), third-Fastest Driver Early in a Run (171.370 mph) and ranked fourth in Fastest Laps Run.
•Scott ranked third in the Closers category.
•Brad Keselowski earned his second victory of the 2013 Nationwide Series season and was followed to the finish line by Elliott Sadler, Matt Crafton, Brian Vickers and Kyle Busch.
•The next Nationwide Series race is the Daytona 250 at Daytona International Speedway on Friday, July 5. The 16th race of the 2013 season is scheduled to be televised live on ESPN beginning at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time and broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM NASCAR Satellite Radio.

Brian Scott and the No. 2 Shore Lodge Chevrolet team qualified 15th for Friday night's NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Kentucky Speedway. Once the initial green flag waved over the 1.5-mile track, it quickly became apparent Scott and the Phil Gould-led team were going to have a long scheduled 200-lap race. For the early going, the car was loose through all the turns. After a pit stop on lap 50 under green, Scott told Gould to "throw the kitchen sink at this thing" to help the handling. One lap later, the caution came out and the Shore Lodge Camaro team was trapped one circuit down to the leaders. Through three other cautions and pit stops, the team kept making adjustments and the car started to respond to the loose condition. However, the front end was now tight exiting the corners, preventing Scott from getting back to the gas as aggressively as desired. By lap 133, he was one of only four drivers on their lap and used cautions to pit for additional chassis adjustments. The final yellow flag waved on lap 164 for rain, which turned into a red flag on lap 170. After trying to wait it out, Mother Nature prevailed and the race was called with the team being credited with a 17th-place finish.

Start - 15th Finish - 17th Laps Led - 0 Points - 9th

Brian Scott Quote: "This was not our night here at Kentucky Speedway. We were loose, then we got that squared away and went to tight. Phil (Gould, crew chief) and the Shore Lodge guys did all they could to make our Chevrolet better. We'll take what we ended up with here and head to the next race in Daytona."

Austin Dillon Drives No. 3 AdvoCare Chevrolet to Sixth-Place Finish

Driving Richard Childress Racing's No. 3 AdvoCare Chevrolet, Austin Dillon earned his fifth pole award in the last six NASCAR Nationwide Series races and led 18 laps in the Feed the Children 300 before placing sixth in Friday evening's rain-shortened event. The Welcome, N.C., driver started from the point position and drove to a commanding lead in the early laps of the race before succumbing to a loose-handling condition on his Chevrolet Camaro, causing him to fall to the fourth position. Crew Chief Danny Stockman directed Dillon down pit road for four Goodyear tires, Sunoco Green E15 Fuel and a round of chassis adjustments to combat the handling issues the driver was facing. The caution flag was displayed on lap 53, as Dillon exited pit road, and the team opted to take the "wave around" to remain on the lead lap. Restarting from the 11th spot on lap 59, Dillon immediately increased his position on the racetrack making it up to seventh before the next round of green-flag pit stops on lap 112. Dillon raced his way up to second and was scored in the sixth position when NASCAR officials slowed the field on lap 164 for rain showers, later stopping the field on pit road and shortening the event 40 laps shy of its advertised distance as the rain increased. Dillon was credited with a sixth-place finish and qualifies for the Nationwide Insurance Dash 4 Cash program, and a possible $100,000 bonus, at Daytona International Speedway next week

Start - 1 Finish - 6 Laps Led - 18 Points - 4th

AUSTIN DILLON QUOTE: "I think if we could have gotten into clean air, we could have picked up a few additional spots at the end of the race but, overall, it was a great day for our AdvoCare Chevrolet team. It was a really good points day. Who can complain about leaving Kentucky Speedway knowing we are qualified for the Nationwide Insurance Dash 4 Cash bonus at Daytona International Speedway next weekend. That's pretty cool to have a chance to win a $100,000 bonus. It's a really great program that Nationwide Insurance has put together."
Matt Crafton Finishes Third at Kentucky Speedway in Nationwide Debut

Making his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut, Matt Crafton finished third in the rain-shortened event at Kentucky Speedway on Friday night. Starting eighth, Crafton had one of the fastest cars on the track and quickly drove his No. 33 Rheem/Menards machine to fifth on lap one. Crafton remained inside the top five until lap 54, where he took the lead as the caution was displayed for the first time during the scheduled 200-lap event. Restarting in second on lap 59, Crafton began to battle a tight condition in the middle of the corners and slipped back to third at the halfway mark. On lap 113, Crafton was making a scheduled green-flag pit stop when the No. 33 machine ran out of fuel coming to pit road. A lengthy pit stop to refuel and re-fire the engine caused Crafton to be scored 12th after the rest of the field had cycled through pit stops. On a mission to make his way back toward the front of the field, Crafton was seventh when he pitted for the final time on lap 142 for fuel only. Restarting first with 55 laps remaining, Crafton fought a loose condition on entry and a tight-handling car on exit, causing him to slip back to third at lap 148. Shortly after, the California native relayed to the crew that the car's handling was improving as was clicking off lap times comparative to the leader. Just as he began to make up ground, the caution flag flew on lap 164 for rain showers. Ultimately, the scheduled 300-mile race was called on lap 170 for persistent rain and Crafton was credited with a third-place finish.

Start - 8 Finish - 3 Laps Led - 8 Owners Points - 8th

MATT CRAFTON QUOTE: "We had an awesome car tonight at Kentucky Speedway. I can't thank Menards, Rheem and Richard Childress Racing enough for this opportunity. Ernie Cope (crew chief) and the guys did a great job preparing the car. It was fast right off the truck Thursday and continued to be fast tonight. I had a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to my next Nationwide Series race with the No 33 crew at Chicagoland Speedway in a few weeks."